UKRAINE MESS

Ukraine is a terrible mess. Seems the Russians and Ukrainians really hate each other ... Since February 24, 2022, the United States has committed over $118 billion in assistance to Ukraine, including roughly $65 billion in immediate military aid. In early 2023, the Biden administration approved the provision of increasingly advanced weaponry, such as the Patriot air defense system, crucial for defending against Russian airstrikes, and top-tier battle tanks. U.S. troop presence in Europe has also increased to more than one hundred thousand soldiers. Despite continued condemnation by key international actors, Russia continues to build valuable partnerships; North Korea and Iran share intelligence and military equipment, while others, namely India and China, have begun purchasing Russian oil and gas at discounted prices. On June 23, Putin faced a major internal challenge when Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the former leader of the Wagner Group of mercenaries, accused the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) of shelling his forces and announced a “march of justice” to unseat the military leadership. The mutiny followed months of tensions with the MoD. Wagner forces quickly occupied Rostov-on-Don, seized Russia’s southern military headquarters, and subsequently advanced more than halfway to Moscow. Putin declared the march “treason” and offered amnesty for soldiers who stopped. On June 24, Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko negotiated for Prigozhin and his Wagner soldiers to relocate to Belarus. Two months after the revolt, Prigozhin died in a private plane crash outside of Moscow. U.S. officials believe an explosion ordered by Putin likely brought it down. https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/conflict-ukraine